Sports

Barons ranked No. 1 heading into OFSAA

It has been a big year for boys' basketball at Algonquin, with the junior and senior Barons sweeping NDA titles last week and taking home NOSSA championships on the weekend.

Now, after claiming Algonquin's first NDA championship in school history, the senior Barons are setting their sights on a bigger goal next week - a provincial medal.

The Barons will represent the region at the Ontario Federation of School Athletic Associations (OFSAA) 'A' championship in St. Catharines, beginning Monday.

When the OFSAA seedings and schedule were finalized Thursday, the Barons were given the No. 1 seed. Barons head coach Tim Lowe said Wednesday he was expecting his team to be among the top six seeds for the tournament, hosted by Ridley College.

Upon learning they were seeded No. 1, Lowe expressed surprise, noting it's just a number and there is work to do.

The Barons are coming off a 47-36 win over the Espanola Spartans in the NOSSA 'A' final on Saturday, just days after outlasting the Chippewa Raiders in the third and final game of the NDA final series.

"We're going to have to play a more physical game and we've been working on that," Lowe said during Wednesday's practice. "We know we're going to be playing against more physical teams. We may have to step up our physicality to counter that, knowing from previous experience at the past two OFSAAs."

The Barons played host to the OFSAA 'A' tournament a year ago in North Bay, entering as the No. 5 seed before losing out in the quarter-final. Two years ago at the OFSAA tournament hosted by the Northern Braves, the Barons were seeded 10th and lost out in the consolation final.

Lowe said the on-court experience from last season's OFSAA tourney can help his team, although this tournament should feel different because they will be away from home and staying together at a hotel.

"If we can continue playing defence like we've played all year, that will help," Lowe said.

"We've buckled down against strong players like Kris Faucon at Chippewa and Mike Cuncins at Widdifield.

"Those are provincial-calibre players and it will come down to being able to stop big individual players on other teams. We're also going to have to be at the top of our offensive game."

Lowe likes his well-balanced attack, which is not necessarily reliant on one player. Both Ricky Dussault and Tanner Owca have proven efficient at outside shooting, while others like Gabriel Rancourt, Matt Blanchfield, Anthony Foreshew and Alex Fay have had big games putting up points in the paint.

There have been games when some players are not producing points, but still bringing other strengths to the floor to help the team.

"We just have to bring the same game we've brought all year -- work hard, play team defence and move the ball around on offence," Rancourt said after Wednesday's practice.

"That's been working for us so far. We just have to take it to the next level, because we'll be playing better teams, obviously."

Rancourt said having everyone contribute on offence will be important.

"If everyone is scoring for, it's hard to defend," he said. "Any team can shut down one or two players, but if all five guys on the court are moving the ball around and being unselfish and everyone is scoring, it's hard to guard.

"If we play the way we can, to the best of our abilities, we can definitely come out of there with a medal. That would be really nice."

Owca, whom Lowe identified as the key player in sparking the comeback against Espanola in the NOSSA final, said the competition the Barons have faced in the last 10 days at NOSSA and against the Raiders in the NDA final should help them be more prepared.

"We're still going to have to step up our game up and put it into the next gear," Owca said.

"It's going to be tougher competition and everybody is there to win, so we'll need to add some more intensity.

"Defensively, if everyone can shut down their man and not give up second opportunities, that will help us a lot, especially since we'll likely be under-sized."

The host team, Ridley College, captured silver at last year's OFSAA tournament in North Bay.

Round robin play begins Monday with the tournament wrapping up with Wednesday night's gold-medal game.